Lampert was able to buy Sears assets in a bankruptcy auction earlier this year, and kept part of the dealer alive as a new, separate company. The shell of the former company now comes after Lampert seeks funds to partially repay creditors who were owed money by Sears at the time of bankruptcy filing.
"As Sears went bankrupt, Eddie Lampert … interacted with and assisted by other defendants, transferred billions of dollars off the company's assets … for grossly inadequate consideration or no consideration at all," according to federal lawsuit, which was filed Thursday. "This complaint is taken to make Sears completely for these thefts of their possessions."
The suite is called ESL, the hedge fund that Lampert controls, and Lampert, as the defendant. It's also called Steven Mnuchin, Lampert's college roommate and a former Sears board member before becoming US Treasury. Other former executives and directors of pre-bankruptcy Sears are also named.
Mnuchin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
The suit claims that a number of transactions carried out by Lampert while managing director of Sears Holdings were made for his and ESL's advantage, rather than at the company's best.
The success points to the sale of shops and properties to real estate companies Seritage Growth Properties ( SRG ) who considered Lampert and ESL as investors. These stores were then rented back to Sears or closed to develop the properties.
Other Sears assets that were sold include Lands End ( LE ) Orchard Supply Hardware Stores, and Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores ( shos ) . Lampert became a major shareholder in all of the spin-offs.
In a statement, the ESL defended the transactions and rejected the allegations in the case. It is said that the suit's claims are misleading or just plain wrong.
It said that all the transactions were made to try to keep Sears alive and get the money it needed to try to restructure.
"ESL was a constant source of funding for Sears Holdings over many years," the firm said. "All transactions were made in good faith on reasonable terms, beneficial to all Sears stakeholders. We are convinced that the processes we followed for each of these transactions are irreconcilable. "
Kredittilsynet in Sear's bankruptcy case made an argument during the bankruptcy process that resembled that done in Thursday's lawsuit, when the committee sought to block the sale of assets to The new suit is not a surprise, given the earlier arguments, says Josh Friedman, global leader of restructuring data at Debtwire. But he warned, "these trials tend to be uphill battles . "
CNN's Donna Borak contributed to this report.
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